Video processing device, and video display system containing same

ABSTRACT

Provided is a video processing device capable of displaying an easily viewable video utilizing a broader area in a display. A video processing unit that is included in the video processing device and processes an input video includes a first memory that stores the input video, a second memory that stores the input video, a compression/expansion control unit that compresses and/or expands a first area of the input video stored in the first memory and compresses and/or expands a second area of the input video stored in the second memory, and an image composing unit that generates an output video in which a video of the first area compressed and/or expanded by the compression/expansion control unit and a video of the second area compressed and/or expanded by the compression/expansion control unit are horizontally aligned.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No.2011-052584 filed on Mar. 10, 2011, and the content of the applicationis incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a video processing device processing aninput video and a video display system containing the video processingdevice.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventionally, video processing devices are known which compress and/orexpand a video that is input (hereinafter, referred to as an “inputvideo”) in the vertical direction (or the column direction) and/or thehorizontal direction (or the row direction) (hereinafter, referred to as“vertical and horizontal directions”) in accordance with the aspectratio of a display and display the video (for example, see PatentLiterature 1). According to such video processing devices, even when theaspect ratios of an input video and a display do not match each other,by compressing and/or expanding the input video in the vertical and/orhorizontal directions, the video can be displayed using the wholedisplay.

Recently, displays are configured to have various aspect ratiosaccording to the uses thereof. For example, as a display used for therear seat of a vehicle, a display is also proposed which has an aspectratio (for example, horizontal:vertical=30:9) that is extremelyhorizontally longer than a display having a general aspect ratio (forexample, horizontal:vertical=16:9).

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

-   Patent Literature 1: JP 2001-086470 A

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

However, when an input video of a general aspect ratio is compressedand/or expanded so as to match an extremely horizontally long display,the input video becomes extremely horizontally long to be uncomfortableto view.

On the other hand, for example, when an input video of a general aspectratio is displayed at the center of the display without expanding theinput video in the horizontal direction of the horizontally longdisplay, large black belt portions are unavoidable on the left and rightsides, and accordingly, the horizontally long display cannot beeffectively used.

The present invention is contrived in consideration of theabove-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a videoprocessing device capable of displaying an easily viewable video byutilizing a broader area in a display in a case where the aspect ratiosof an input video and the display are different from each other.

Solution to Problem

In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, a videoprocessing device according to the present invention is configured toinclude a video processing unit that processes an input video. The videoprocessing unit is configured to include a first memory that stores theinput video, a second memory that stores the input video, acompression/expansion control unit that compresses and/or expands afirst area of the input video stored in the first memory and compressesand/or expands a second area of the input video stored in the secondmemory, and an image composing unit that generates an output video inwhich a video of the first area compressed and/or expanded by thecompression/expansion control unit and a video of the second areacompressed and/or expanded by the compression/expansion control unit arehorizontally aligned.

In addition, according to another aspect of the present invention, thereis provided a video display system, and this video display systemincludes one of the above-described video processing devices and adisplay that displays an output video.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to the present invention, first and second areas of an inputvideo are displayed to be aligned in the row direction, and accordingly,an easily viewable video can be displayed by utilizing a broader area ofa horizontally long display.

As described below, there is another aspect in the present invention.Thus, the disclosure of this invention is for purposes of providing apart of the present invention but not for purposes of limiting the scopeof the invention that is described and claimed here.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that illustrates the configuration of a videoprocessing unit of a video processing device according to a firstembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram that illustrates the configuration of thevideo processing device according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart that illustrates an example of a determinationprocess performed by a division determining unit according to the firstembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart that illustrates another example of thedetermination process performed by the division determining unitaccording to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart that illustrates an example of a control processperformed by a control unit according to the first embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart that illustrates another example of the controlprocess performed by the control unit according to the first embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart that illustrates another example of the controlprocess performed by the control unit according to the first embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart that illustrates another example of the controlprocess performed by the control unit according to the first embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart that illustrates another example of the controlprocess performed by the control unit according to the first embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 10( a) is a diagram that illustrates an input video according tothe first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10( b) is a diagram that illustrates an output video according tothe first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram that illustrates the configuration of a videoprocessing device according to a second embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 12( a) is a diagram that illustrates an input video according tothe second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12( b) is a diagram that illustrates an output video according tothe second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram that illustrates the configuration of a videoprocessing device according to a third embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 14( a) is a diagram that illustrates an output video according tothe third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14( b) is a diagram that illustrates an output video according tothe third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram that illustrates the configuration of a videoprocessing device according to a fourth embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram that illustrates the configuration of a videoprocessing device according to a fifth embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 17( a) is a diagram that illustrates an input video according tothe fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17( b) is a diagram that illustrates an output video according tothe fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18( a) is a diagram that illustrates an input video according to afirst modified example of the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18( b) is a diagram that illustrates an output video according tothe first modified example of the fifth embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 19( a) is a diagram that illustrates an input video according to asecond modified example of the fifth embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 19( b) is a diagram that illustrates an output video according tothe second modified example of the fifth embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 19( c) is a diagram that illustrates an output video according tothe second modified example of the fifth embodiment of the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, detailed description of the present invention will bepresented. Embodiments described below are merely examples of thepresent invention, and the present invention may be changed to variousforms. Thus, specific configurations and specific functions disclosedbelow are not for purposes of limiting the claims.

A video processing device according to an embodiment of the presentinvention is configured to include a video processing unit thatprocesses an input video. The video processing unit is configured toinclude a first memory that stores the input video, a second memory thatstores the input video, a compression/expansion control unit thatcompresses and/or expands a first area of the input video stored in thefirst memory and compresses and/or expands a second area of the inputvideo stored in the second memory, and an image composing unit thatgenerates an output video in which a video of the first area compressedand/or expanded by the compression/expansion control unit and a video ofthe second area compressed and/or expanded by the compression/expansioncontrol unit are horizontally aligned.

According to such a configuration, the input video is stored in both thefirst memory and the second memory, an output video in which the firstand second areas of the input video are horizontally aligned isgenerated by reading the first area from the first memory andcompressing and/or expanding the first area and reading the second areafrom the second memory and compressing and/or expanding the second area.Accordingly, when the input video is directly displayed in a case wherea display is horizontally longer than the input video, black beltportions in which no video is included are generated to the left andright sides of the input video, and, according to such a configuration,the first and second areas are displayed by being aligned in the rowdirection, whereby an easily viewable video can be displayed byutilizing a broader area in the horizontally long display.

In addition, in the above-described video processing device, the firstarea may be an upper area of the input video, and the second area may bea lower area of the input video.

According to such a configuration, a vertically divisible input video isvertically divided, and the divided videos are compressed and/orexpanded and then can be displayed to be aligned in the row direction.

In addition, in the above-described video processing device, the firstarea may be the entire area of the input video, and the second area maybe a rectangular area of the input video that is smaller than the entirearea.

According to such a configuration, a partial area (rectangular area)extracted from the input video is enlarged and can be displayed by beingaligned together with the input video.

In addition, the above-described video processing device may furtherinclude a division control unit that determines whether or not a displaycan be made in a division display mode in which the output videogenerated by the image composing unit is displayed and controls thevideo processing unit.

According to such a configuration, in a case where the input video is avideo that can be displayed in the division display mode, the outputvideo is generated in which the first and second areas of the inputvideo are horizontally aligned. Here, whether or not the input video isa video that can be displayed in the division display mode may bedetermined based on the content of the input video or may be determinedbased on a user's instruction.

In addition, in the above-described video processing device, thedivision control unit may determine whether the input video is avertically divided video and, in a case where the input video is thevertically divided video, control the video processing unit so as togenerate an output video for performing a display in the divisiondisplay mode with an upper area set as the first area and a lower areaset as the second area.

According to such a configuration, when the input video is a verticallydivided video, an output video is automatically generated in which theupper area and the lower area are horizontally aligned.

In addition, in the above-described video processing device, thedivision control unit may determine whether the input video is avertically divided video and, in a case where the input video is thevertically divided video, add a division display mode in which theoutput video generated by the image composing unit is displayed as adisplay mode and control the video processing unit so as to generate anoutput video for performing a display in the division display mode withthe upper area set as the first area and the lower area set as thesecond area when the division display mode is selected by a user.

According to such a configuration, when the input video is a verticallydivided video, a user can direct to generate an output video in whichthe upper area and the lower area are horizontally aligned.

In addition, in the above-described video processing device, thedivision control unit may control the video processing unit so as togenerate an output video for performing a display in the divisiondisplay mode with an area disposed on an upper side of a divisionposition set as the first area and an area disposed on a lower side ofthe division position set as the second area in accordance with a user'sinstruction including designation of the division position used forvertically dividing the input video.

According to such a configuration, the user can direct to verticallydivide the input video at the division position and generate an outputvideo in which the upper area and the lower area are horizontallyaligned.

In addition, in the above-described video processing device, thedivision control unit may detect a face area from the input video andcontrol the video processing unit so as to generate an output video forperforming a display in the division display mode with the entire areaof the input video set as the first area and the face area set as thesecond area when the face area is detected from the input video.

According to such a configuration, when there is a person's face in theinput video, an output video in which the entire area and the face areaof the input video are horizontally aligned is automatically generated.

In addition, in the above-described video processing device, thedivision control unit may detect a face area from the input video, whenthe face area is detected from the input video, add a division displaymode in which the output video generated by the image composing unit isdisplayed as a display mode, and control the video processing unit so asto generate an output video for performing a display in the divisiondisplay mode with the entire area of the input video set as the firstarea and the face area set as the second area when the division displaymode is selected by a user.

According to such a configuration, when there is a person's face in theinput video, the user can direct to generate an output video in whichthe entire area and the face area of the input video are horizontallyaligned.

In addition, in the above-described video processing device, thedivision control unit may control the video processing unit so as togenerate an output video for performing a display in the divisiondisplay mode with the entire area of the input video set as the firstarea and a partial area set as the second area in accordance with auser's instruction including designation of the partial area of theinput video.

According to such a configuration, the user can designate an arbitraryarea of the input video and direct to generate an output video in whichthe designated area of the input video and the entire area of the inputvideo are horizontally aligned.

In addition, according to another aspect of the present invention, thereis provided a video display system, and this video display system isconfigured to include one of the above-described video processingdevices and a display that displays an output video.

According to such a configuration, since the first and second areas aredisplayed by being aligned in the row direction, an easily viewablevideo can be displayed by utilizing a broader area in the horizontallylong display.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described withreference to the drawings.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that illustrates the configuration of a videoprocessing unit of a video processing device according to a firstembodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram thatillustrates the configuration of the video processing device accordingto the first embodiment of the present invention. First, the entireconfiguration of the video processing device will be described withreference to FIG. 2, and then, the configuration of the video processingunit of the video processing device will be described in detail withreference to FIG. 1.

As display modes, a video processing device 100 according to thisembodiment has a normal display mode in which an input video is directlydisplayed without changing the aspect ratio thereof and a verticaldivision display mode, as described in this embodiment, in which aninput video is divided into an upper area and a lower area, and videosof the areas are horizontally aligned to be displayed, further has adisplay mode such as a full-screen display mode in which an input videois compressed and/or expanded in accordance with the size of a display,and processes the input video in accordance with the display mode. Here,the vertical division display mode is one kind of a division displaymode according to the present invention. In the first embodiment, theconfiguration of the video processing device 100 for displaying a videoin the vertical division display mode will be described.

The video processing device 100 according to this embodiment divides aninput video as illustrated in FIG. 10( a) into an upper area and a lowerarea, compresses and/or expands the videos of the areas in the verticaland/or horizontal directions, and horizontally aligns the videos of theareas as illustrated in FIG. 10( b), thereby generating an output videodisplayed in the entire area of a display. The display is connected tothe video processing device 100 according to this embodiment. The outputvideo generated by the video processing device 100 is input to thedisplay. A video display system according to the present invention isconfigured by the video processing device 100 and the display. Here, asthe display, a known display may be used.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the video processing device 100 according tothis embodiment includes a division determining unit 10, a videoprocessing unit 20, and a control unit 30. A configuration acquired bycombining the division determining unit 10 and the control unit 30corresponds to a division control unit according to the presentinvention. The division determining unit 10 determines whether or not aninput video is a video that can vertically divide the screen, asillustrated in FIG. 10( a). The division determining unit 10 includes afirst line memory 101, a second line memory 102, a third line memory103, a line memory writing control unit 104, a line memory readingcontrol unit 105, and a determination unit 106.

An input video is input to the first line memory 101, the second linememory 102, the third line memory 103, and the line memory writingcontrol unit 104. The line memory writing control unit 104 writes eachline of a video signal into one of the first, second, third linememories 101, 102, and 103 by supplying write signals to the first,second, and third line memories 101, 102, and 103 based on the inputvideo. The line memory into which the video signal is to be written isselected in order of the first, second, and third line memories 101,102, and 103 for each line.

The line memory reading control unit 105 reads signals from two linememories acquired by excluding a line memory into which the video signalis written under the control of the line memory writing control unit 104from the first, second, and third line memories 101, 102, and 103 andoutputs the read signals to the determination unit 106.

The determination unit 106 determines whether or not the video signal oftwo lines read by the line memory reading control unit 105 is a videosignal of a vertical division position of the screen. More specifically,the determination unit 106 determines whether or not the two lines aretwo lines exceeding the vertical division position (the boundary betweenupper and lower screens) in accordance with determination conditionsbased on the magnitude of a change in the video signal of the two linesread by the line memory reading control unit 105. The determinationconditions are as follows.

(Determination Condition 1)

Determination Condition 1 is a condition that the positions of two linessatisfying the following boundary condition are in an area withinseveral lines near the center of the screen in the vertical direction.As the boundary condition, for example, one of the following conditions(1) to (5) as below may be employed.

(1) A sum of differences between luminance levels of pixels disposed ina column corresponding to the video signal of the two lines is a maximumor within the fifth in the frame of the video signals.

(2) A sum of the absolute values of differences between luminance levelsof pixels disposed in a column corresponding to the video signal of thetwo lines is a maximum or within the fifth in the frame of the videosignals.

(3) A sum of differences between the chromaticity levels of pixelsdisposed in a column corresponding to the video signal of two lines is amaximum or within the fifth in the frame of the video signals.

(4) A sum of the absolute values of differences between the chromaticitylevels of pixels disposed in a column corresponding to the video signalof the two lines is a maximum or within the fifth in the frame of thevideo signals.

(5) At least one line of the two lines is a black belt area.

In addition, the boundary condition may be a condition that is acquiredby arbitrarily combining the conditions (1) to (4) described above.

In a case where the determination unit 106 makes a determination usingDetermination Condition 1, the determination does not necessary need tobe made for all the two lines, which are adjacent to each other, of thevideo signal, and the determination may be made only for two linesadjacent to each other that are located near the center in the verticaldirection. In addition, the determination may be made only for positionslocated near the center of two lines adjacent to each other in thehorizontal direction, or the determination may be made only forpositions located near the center of two lines, which are adjacent toeach other located near the center in the vertical direction, in thehorizontal direction.

(Determination Condition 2)

Determination Condition 2 is a condition that the amount of change inluminance exceeds a predetermined threshold within several lines locatednear the center of the screen in the vertical direction. As the amountof change in luminance, for example, one of the following amounts (1) to(4) may be used.

(1) A sum of differences between luminance levels of pixels disposed ina column corresponding to the video signal of two lines

(2) A sum of the absolute values of differences between luminance levelsof pixels disposed in a column corresponding to the video signal of twolines

(3) A sum of differences between chromaticity levels of pixels disposedin a column corresponding to the video signal of two lines

(4) A sum of the absolute values of differences between chromaticitylevels of pixels disposed in a column corresponding to the video signalof two lines

In addition, in Determination Conditions 1 and 2 described above, thesum of differences between luminance levels of pixels disposed in acolumn corresponding to the video signal of two lines, the sum of theabsolute values of differences between luminance levels of pixelsdisposed in a column corresponding to the video signal of two lines, thesum of differences between chromaticity levels of pixels disposed in acolumn corresponding to the video signal of two lines, and the sum ofthe absolute values of differences between chromaticity levels of pixelsdisposed in a column corresponding to the video signal of two lines maybe a sum for pixels of all the columns of the two lines or, for example,may be a sum for pixels of columns extracted at the interval of severalpixels.

The determination unit 106 determines whether or not the video signal ofthe two lines satisfies a determination condition each time when thevideo signal of two lines is read by the line memory reading controlunit 105 by using the determination condition as described above.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart that illustrates an example of a divisiondetermination process performed by the determination unit 106. Thedetermination unit 106 waits for a fall of an input verticalsynchronization signal Vsync (Step S31) and determines whether or notthe determination condition is satisfied (Step S32) when there is thefall (Yes in Step S31). In a case where the determination condition isnot satisfied (No in Step S32), “No” is output as a result of thedetermination, and a frame counter is reset (Step S33).

On the other hand, in a case where the determination condition issatisfied (Yes in Step S32), it is determined whether or not the framecounter reaches at 60 (Step S34). In a case where the frame counter hasnot reached at 60, the frame counter is incremented (Step S35), theprocess is returned to Step S31, and the determination unit waits for afall of the input vertical synchronization signal again. On the otherhand, in a case where frame counter reaches at 60 in Step S34 (Yes inStep S34), “Yes” is output as a result of the determination, the framecounter is maintained at 60 (Step S36), the process is returned to StepS31, and the determination unit waits for a fall of the next inputvertical synchronization signal.

As is apparent from the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 3, in a case wherethe determination condition is satisfied consecutively for 60 frames,the determination unit 106 determines that the input video is verticallydivisible and outputs “Yes” as a result of the determination, that is, adetermination result representing that the input video is verticallydivisible. As above, by outputting the determination result of “Yes”only in a case where the condition is satisfied consecutively for aplurality of frames, it is prevented that an input video that is notoriginally vertically divisible is erroneously determined as avertically divisible video as the input video incidentally satisfies thedetermination condition.

In addition, as is apparent from FIG. 3, after the determination resultof “Yes” is output, the frame counter is maintained at 60, andaccordingly, as long as the determination condition is consecutivelysatisfied, it is Yes in Step S32, and it is Yes in Step S34, whereby thedetermination result of “Yes” is continuously output. When the inputvideo is not vertically divisible, the determination condition is notsatisfied in Step S32, the frame counter is reset in Step S33, and adetermination result of “Yes” is not output until the determinationcondition is satisfied consecutively for 60 frames again. Here, thenumber of frames for determining “Yes” is not limited to 60 and, forexample, may be 30, 120, or the like.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart that illustrates another example of the divisiondetermination process performed by the determination unit 106. Thedetermination unit 106 waits for a fall of the input verticalsynchronization signal Vsync (Step S41) and determines whether or notthe determination condition is satisfied (Step S42) when there is thefall (Yes in Step S41). In a case where the determination condition isnot satisfied (No in Step S42), it is determined whether a No counterreaches at 60 (Step S43). In a case where the No counter has not reachedat 60 (No in Step S43), the No counter is incremented (Step S44), theprocess is returned to Step S41, and the determination unit waits for afall of the next input vertical synchronization signal.

In a case where the No counter reaches at 60 in Step S43 (Yes in StepS43), a Yes counter is reset (Step S45), “No” is output as a result ofthe determination, the No counter is maintained at 60 (Step S46), theprocess is returned to Step S41, and the determination unit waits for afall of the next input vertical synchronization signal.

On the other hand, in a case where the determination condition issatisfied in Step S42 (Yes in Step S42), the No counter is reset (StepS47), and it is determined whether or not the Yes counter has reached at60 (Step S48). In a case where the Yes counter has not reached at 60 (Noin Step S48), the Yes counter is incremented (Step S49), the process isreturned to Step S41, and the determination unit waits for a fall of thenext input vertical synchronization signal. On the other hand, the Yescounter has reached at 60 in Step S48 (Yes in Step S48), “Yes” is outputas a result of the determination, the Yes counter is maintained at 60(Step S50), the process is returned to Step S41, and the determinationunit waits for a fall of the next input vertical synchronization signal.

As above, in the example illustrated in FIG. 4, a determination resultof “Yes” is output when the determination condition is satisfiedconsecutively for a predetermined number of frames (60 frames), and thedetermination result of “No” is output when the determination conditionis not satisfied consecutively for a predetermined number of frames (60frames).

In addition, in the above-described flow, while the No counter isimmediately reset in Step S47 when there is a frame satisfying thedetermination condition in Step S42, the Yes counter is not reset untilthe No counter reaches at 60 even in a case where there is a frame notsatisfying the determination condition in Step S42.

The reason for this is that there is a case where there is incidentallya frame not satisfying the determination condition during an operationafter a determination of “Yes”, and a determination result of “No”should not be output for such a frame. Accordingly, as in the flowchartillustrated in FIG. 3, the Yes counter is reset (Step S45) only in acase where there are a plurality of consecutive frames (60 frames) notsatisfying the determination condition (Yes in Step S43), and, as aresult of the determination, “No” is output (Step S46).

In a case where the determination result is “Yes”, the determinationunit 106 outputs information of a division position (more specifically,information representing the row of a line vertically dividing thescreen) to the control unit 30 as a result of the determination togetherwith the determination result of “Yes” (in the case of the exampleillustrated in FIG. 3) or a determination result of “Yes” or “No” (inthe case of the example illustrated in FIG. 4).

Referring to FIG. 2, the control unit 30 outputs a control signal to thevideo processing unit 20 based on a determination result input from thedetermination unit 106. In a case where a division display is performed,the information of the division position included in the determinationresult supplied from the division determining unit 10 is included in thecontrol signal together with information representing whether or not adivision display is performed (whether the vertical division displaymode is set). To the video processing unit 20, an input video to beprocessed and the control signal supplied from the control unit 30 areinput, and the video processing unit 20 processes the input video andoutputs an output video to the display based on the control signal.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart that illustrates an example of the process ofcontrolling the video processing unit 20 that is performed by thecontrol unit 30. The example illustrated in FIG. 5 illustrates theprocess of the control unit 30 in a case where only “Yes” is output as adetermination result, as in the example illustrated in FIG. 3, in thedetermination process of the determination unit 106.

First, the control unit 30 determines whether or not the determinationresult supplied from the determination unit 106 is “Yes” (Step S51). Ina case where the determination result is “Yes” (Yes in Step S51), aselection screen used for selecting whether to perform a verticaldivision display is displayed on the display (Step S52), and waiting fora user's selection operation being performed (Step S53). In a case wherethe vertical division display is selected by the user (Yes in Step S53),a control signal is output to the video processing unit 20, videoprocessing for the vertical division display is performed (Step S54),and the process is returned to Step S51.

In addition, after the vertical division display is performed, forexample, the screen is returned to a normal screen that is notvertically divided in accordance with a user's operation such as a modeswitching operation. As above, in the example illustrated in FIG. 5, ina case where the input video is a vertically divisible video, first, auser is allowed to select whether or not a vertical division display isperformed, and the vertical division display is performed in accordancewith a user's operation.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart that illustrates another example of the process ofcontrolling the video processing unit 20 that is performed by thecontrol unit 30. The example illustrated in FIG. 6 is an exemplarymodification of the example illustrated in FIG. 5. In this example, itis determined whether or not the determination result supplied from thedetermination unit 106 is “Yes” (Step S61). In a case where thedetermination result is “Yes” (Yes in Step S61), a vertical divisiondisplay is automatically performed (Step S64) without inquiring the userwhether to perform a vertical division display unlike the exampleillustrated in FIG. 5.

In this example, the user does not need to perform an instructionoperation for performing a vertical division display. In addition,unlike the example illustrated in FIG. 5, the configuration fordisplaying a selection screen is unnecessary, whereby the configurationof the video processing device 100 can be simplified.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart that illustrates another example of the process ofcontrolling the video processing unit 20 that is performed by thecontrol unit 30. The example illustrated in FIG. 7 illustrates theprocess of the control unit 30 in a case where the determination unit106 outputs “Yes” and “No” as determination results as in the exampleillustrated in FIG. 4.

The control unit 30 determines whether the determination result suppliedfrom the determination unit 106 is “Yes” (Step S71) or “No” (Step S72),and this is repeated until either determination result is acquired.

When the determination result is output from the determination unit 106and is “Yes” (Yes in Step S71), similarly to the example illustrated inFIG. 5, a selection screen for selecting whether to perform a verticaldivision display is displayed on the display (Step S74), waiting for auser's selection operation is performed (Step S74), and, in a case wherethe user selects the vertical division display (Yes in Step S74), acontrol signal is output to the video processing unit 20, whereby videoprocessing for the vertical division display is performed (Step S75). Onthe other hand, when the determination result is output from thedetermination unit 106 and is “No” (Yes in Step S72), the verticaldivision display is returned to a normal display (Step S76).

In other words, while the switching from the vertical division displayto the normal display is performed based on a user's operation in theexample illustrated in FIG. 5, in the example illustrated in FIG. 7, theswitching is automatically performed by the control unit 30 based on thedetermination result of “No” output from the determination unit 106. Inaddition, when the display is returned from the vertical divisiondisplay to the normal display, similarly to Steps S73 and S74, aselection screen may be displayed, and the switching between thedisplays may be performed waiting for a user's operation.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart that illustrates another example of the process ofcontrolling the video processing unit 20 that is performed by thecontrol unit 30. The example illustrated in FIG. 8 is an exemplarymodification of the example illustrated in FIG. 7. In this example, in acase where a determination result of “Yes” is supplied from thedetermination unit 106 (Yes in Step S81), as the example illustrated inFIG. 7, a vertical division display is automatically performed withoutinquiring the user whether to perform the vertical division display(Step S85). In addition, in a case where a determination result of “No”is supplied from the determination unit 106 (Yes in Step S82), thedisplay is returned from the division display to the normal display(Step S85).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart that illustrates another example of the process ofcontrolling the video processing unit 20 that is performed by thecontrol unit 30. In the example illustrated in FIG. 9, the videoprocessing device 100 normally has a normal display mode and afull-screen display mode as display modes, and, when an input video isdetermined as a vertically divisible video by the division determiningunit 10 (when the determination unit 106 outputs a determination resultof “Yes”), a vertical division display mode is added to the displaymodes.

In other words, in FIG. 9, when a determination result of “Yes” issupplied in Step S91, a vertical division display mode is added to thedisplay modes in Step S93, and, when a user selects the verticaldivision display mode as the display mode in Step S94 (Yes in Step S94),the control unit 30 outputs a control signal used for performing thevertical division display. In the example illustrated in FIG. 9, theother processes are the same as those of FIG. 7.

Next, the configuration of the video processing unit 20 will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 1. Hereinafter, an example of theprocess will be described in which a video illustrated in FIG. 10( a) isgiven as an input video, the video is divided into an upper area and alower area, the video of each area is compressed and/or expanded in thevertical and/or horizontal directions, and, as illustrated in FIG. 10(b), an output video displayed using the whole screen by horizontallyaligning the videos of the areas is generated. The aspect ratio of theinput video illustrated in FIG. 10( a) is 16:9.

In FIG. 10( a), the videos of the upper and lower areas are separated atthe center in the vertical direction of the screen, in other words, avertical division position is the center in the vertical direction ofthe screen. Accordingly, the aspect ratio of the videos of the upper andlower areas is 16:4.5. The aspect ratio of the output video illustratedin FIG. 10( b) is 30:9. The aspect ratio of each one of videos of theareas disposed on the left and right sides of a horizontal divisionposition in FIG. 10( b) is 15:9.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the video processing unit 20 includes a firstmemory 201, a second memory 202, a memory writing control unit 203, afirst memory reading control unit 204, a second memory reading controlunit 205, a video processing control unit 206, a compression/expansioncontrol unit 207, and an image composing unit 208.

The memory writing control unit 203 writes an input video into the firstand second memories 201 and 202. In both the first and second memories201 and 202, pixel data of all the lines of the input video is written.A control signal representing a vertical division position of the screenthat has been determined by the determination unit 106 is input to thevideo processing control unit 206. The video processing control unit 206controls the first and second memory reading control units 204 and 205in accordance with this control signal.

The first memory reading control unit 204 reads image data from thefirst memory 201 and outputs the read image data to thecompression/expansion control unit 207 under the control of the videoprocessing control unit 206. The second memory reading control unit 205reads image data from the second memory 202 and outputs the read imagedata to the compression/expansion control unit 207 under the control ofthe video processing control unit 206.

The video processing control unit 206 performs control of the first andsecond memory reading control units 204 and 205 such that video signalsare read from the first memory 201 for lines up to the vertical divisionposition of the screen that is represented by the control signal, andvideo signals are read from the second memory 202 for lines below thevertical division position of the screen that is represented by thecontrol signal. At this time, at the timing when the first memoryreading control unit 204 reads a line of a first-row of the videosignal, the second memory reading control unit 205 reads a line of afirst row (in the above-described example, 241st row) below the verticaldivision position of the screen.

The compression/expansion control unit 207 compresses and/or expands thesignals read by the first memory reading control unit 204 in thevertical and/or horizontal directions and outputs resultant signals tothe image composing unit 208. In this embodiment, the input video isvertically divided at the center in the vertical direction, and thevideo of each area is compressed and/or expanded in the vertical andhorizontal directions, whereby the videos are composed as a left-rightparallel screen using the whole screen. The compression/expansioncontrol unit 207 compresses and/or expands videos of the upper and lowerareas such that each one of the videos of the upper and lower areas hasthe size of one divided portion acquired by horizontally dividing thedisplay unit 13 at the center in the horizontal direction.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 10, the videos of the upper and lowerareas are compressed and/or expanded such that the videos of the upperand lower areas each having an aspect ratio of 16:4.5 become videos eachhaving an aspect ratio of 15:9. In the compression and/or expansionprocess, known technologies including interpolation and thinning out maybe applied.

The image composing unit 208 composes data output from thecompression/expansion control unit 207 for each line, thereby generatingan output video. Accordingly, the video processing control unit 206performs control of the first and second memory reading control units204 and 205 such that video signals are read from the first memory 201for rows disposed on the left side from the center of the output video,and video signals are read from the second memory 202 for rows disposedon the right side from the center of the output video. As a result, bythe image composing unit 208, as illustrated in FIG. 10( b), linesgenerated by being read from the first memory 201 and being compressedand/or expanded by the compression/expansion control unit 207 arearranged on the left side from the screen center, and lines generated bybeing read from the second memory 202 and being compressed and/orexpanded by the compression/expansion control unit 207 are arranged onthe right side from the screen center. The image composing unit 208outputs this video to the display as the output video.

As above, according to the video processing device 100 of the firstembodiment, a vertically divisible input video is vertically divided,and divided videos are compressed and/or expanded and are horizontallydisplayed, whereby an easily viewable video can be displayed utilizing abroader area of the display. In addition, since the division determiningunit 10 determines whether or not an input video is verticallydivisible, the video processing device 100 can process and display theinput video in the vertical division display mode based on thedetermination result.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, in a case where thedetermination result is “Yes”, although the determination unit 106outputs the information of the division position together with thedetermination result indicating a display in the vertical divisiondisplay mode, the determination unit 106 outputs only the determinationresult and does not need to output the division position in a case whereit is known in advance that the videos of the upper and lower areasnecessarily have the same size for the vertically divisible video.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, although the divisiondetermining unit 10 determines whether or not the video signal isvertically divisible by comparing two upper and lower lines, thedivision determining unit 10, for example, may secure data of severallines and determine whether the video signal is vertically divisible bydetecting a vertical division position by performing a high passfiltering process or may extract edges after the high pass filteringprocess and make the determination based on the amount of the edges.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, although the divisiondetermining unit 10 determines whether or not a video signal isvertically divisible by comparing two upper and lower lines using threeline memories, two upper and lower lines can be compared when there isat least one line memory. To the contrary, in a case where the divisiondetermining unit 10 detects a vertical division position by the highpass filtering process, four or more line memories may be includedtherein.

Second Embodiment

FIG. 11 is a block diagram that illustrates the configuration of a videoprocessing device according to a second embodiment of the presentinvention. In FIG. 11, the same reference numeral is assigned to eachconfiguration corresponding to that of the video processing deviceaccording to the first embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 11, the videoprocessing device 200 according to this embodiment, similarly to thevideo processing device 100 according to the first embodiment, includesa division determining unit 10, a video processing unit 20, and acontrol unit 30. The division determining unit 10 according to thisembodiment includes a touch panel 107, a touch area detecting unit 108,and a determination unit 106.

FIG. 12( a) is a diagram that illustrates a user's operation for a touchpanel 107 so as to perform a division display in a vertical divisiondisplay mode, and FIG. 12( b) is a diagram that illustrates a screendisplayed in the vertical division display mode. The touch panel 107 isdisposed on a display, detects a contact according to a person's fingeror the like, and outputs a detection signal. The touch area detectingunit 108 receives a detection signal from the touch panel 107 as aninput, detects a touch area, and outputs the touch area to thedetermination unit 106.

When the touch area is received from the touch area detecting unit 108,the determination unit 106 determines whether to perform a display inthe vertical division display mode based on the touch area and outputs adetermination result to the control unit 30. When a determination resultindicating a display in the vertical division display mode is to beoutput, the determination unit 106 also outputs a division position asthe determination result.

In a case where the touch area input from the touch area detecting unit108 is a center portion of the screen in the vertical direction, and theoperation is an operation drawing a horizontal line on the displayedvideo (the video is touched with a finger and is dragged) (in otherwords, a state as illustrated in FIG. 12( a)), the determination unit106 outputs a determination result indicating a display in the verticaldivision display mode. At this time, the division position may be at anaverage height of the touch area, which has been detected by the toucharea detecting unit 108, in the height direction.

In addition, in a case where it is known in advance that a video of theupper area and a video of the lower area for the vertically divisiblevideo necessarily have the same size, when the touch area input from thetouch area detecting unit 108 is located near the center in the verticaldirection, the determination unit 106 may automatically regards thecenter in the vertical direction (in a case where there are 480 pixelsin the vertical direction, between the 240th row and the 241st row) asthe division position. As above, in a case where the division positionis fixed, the determination unit 106 outputs only a determination resultindicating a display in the vertical division display mode and does notneed to output the division position.

The control unit 30 outputs a control signal used for performing adisplay in the vertical division display mode to the video processingunit 20 based on the determination result supplied from thedetermination unit 106. At this time, the control signal is output inaccordance with the example illustrated in FIG. 6. In other words, in acase where a determination result indicating a display in the verticaldivision display mode is acquired from the determination unit 106, acontrol signal indicating a display in the vertical division displaymode is immediately output to the video processing unit 20 together witha division position. At this time, the determination of performing adisplay in the vertical division display mode in the divisiondetermining unit 10 is made based on a user's operation, andaccordingly, as in the examples illustrated in FIGS. 5, 7, and 9, theuser does not need to perform an operation for performing a divisiondisplay again. The configuration and the operation of the videoprocessing unit 20 are the same as those of the first embodiment.

As above, according to the video processing device 200 of the secondembodiment, the video is vertically divided at the division position soas to be horizontally aligned in accordance with a user's operation ofdrawing a line at the division position of the screen, and accordingly,the user can direct to perform the vertical division display mode usingan intuitive operation.

Third Embodiment

FIG. 13 is a block diagram that illustrates the configuration of a videoprocessing device according to a third embodiment of the presentinvention. The video processing device 300 according to this embodimentis acquired by adding a function to the video processing device 100according to the first embodiment. In addition, this function may beadded also to the video processing device 200 according to the secondembodiment. The video processing device 300 according to thisembodiment, particularly, is appropriately used in a case where a videoof a game is displayed on a display.

In the video processing device 300 according to this embodiment, acontroller position detecting unit 109 is added to the video processingdevice 100 according to the first embodiment. In a case where there aretwo game controllers, the controller position detecting unit 109 detectsthe positions of the controllers and outputs a detection signal to thedetermination unit 106. The determination unit 106 outputs adetermination result representing which controller is on the right sideand which controller is on the left side to the control unit 30 based onthe positions of the two controllers.

The control unit 30 outputs this determination result to the videoprocessing unit 20 as a control signal. The video processing unit 20changes read positions according to the first and second memory readingcontrol units 204 and 205 based on the control signal representing thehorizontal positional relation of the two controllers. Under the controlof the video processing control unit 206, in a case where one of thefirst and second memory reading control units 204 and 205 performsreading from a lead line of the video of the upper area of the inputvideo, and the other performs reading from a lead line of the video ofthe lower area, when the horizontal positional relation of the twocontrollers is reversed, the video processing control unit 206 controlsthe first and second memory reading control units 204 and 205 such thatone of the first and second memory reading control units 204 and 205performs reading from the lead line of the video of the lower area ofthe input video, and the other performs reading from the lead line ofthe video of the upper area.

As above, according to the video processing device 300 of the thirdembodiment, in a case where the input video is a video of a game playedby two players, videos representing the play statuses of the players arevertically aligned, and the input video is divided into upper and lowerareas, and videos of the areas are compressed and/or expanded and thenare horizontally aligned to be displayed, it is determined which one ofthe videos of the upper and lower areas is arranged on the left side orthe right side in accordance with the actual locations of the players,whereby a video can be displayed in which the sense of presence of twoplayers are improved.

Fourth Embodiment

FIG. 15 is a block diagram that illustrates the configuration of a videoprocessing device according to a fourth embodiment. The video processingdevice 400 according to this embodiment is appropriately applied to adisplay used for being viewed by a passenger seated on the rear seat ofa vehicle.

The video processing device 400 according to this embodiment includes adivision determining unit 10, a video processing unit 20, and a controlunit 30. The division determining unit 10 according to this embodimentincludes a seating sensor 110 and a determination unit 106. The seatingsensor 110 may be included in seats for two persons (for example, therear seats of a vehicle) that are aligned before a display in adirection parallel to the horizontal direction of the display. Theseating sensor 110 detects whether or not a person is seated and outputsa detection result to the determination unit 106.

In a case where a detection result acquired by the seating sensor 110represents that persons are seated on both seats for two persons, thedetermination unit 106 outputs a determination result indicating thatthe input video is vertically divisible. When the determination resultindicating that the input video is vertically divisible is received fromthe determination unit 106, the control unit 30, similarly to Step S93in the example illustrated in FIG. 9, the control unit 30 adds avertical division display mode as a display mode. Then, when thevertical division display mode is directed in accordance with a user'soperation, the control unit 30 outputs a control signal to the videoprocessing unit 20 so as to perform a display in the vertical divisiondisplay mode. At this time, the division position is at the center inthe vertical direction.

As above, according to the video processing device 400 according to thefourth embodiment, in a case where there are two persons (users) beforethe display, the vertical division display mode is added in accordancetherewith, and accordingly, the user can select the vertical divisiondisplay mode as a display mode.

Fifth Embodiment

FIG. 16 is a block diagram that illustrates the configuration of a videoprocessing device according to a fifth embodiment of the presentinvention. The video processing device 500 of this embodiment includes adivision determining unit 10, a video processing unit 20, and a controlunit 30. The division determining unit 10 includes a face recognizingunit 111 and a determination unit 106.

An input video is input to the face recognizing unit 111. The facerecognizing unit 111 recognizes a face area in the input video andoutputs the face area to the determination unit 106. For this facerecognition, an arbitrary known technology such as template matching orfeature point matching may be employed. The face recognizing unit 111specifies a rectangular face area including a face and outputs a resultthereof to the determination unit 106. At this time, the aspect ratio ofthe face area is an aspect ratio in a case where the display ishorizontally divided. In other words, when the aspect ratio of thedisplay is horizontal:vertical=a:b, the aspect ratio of a face area ishorizontal:vertical=a/2:b. In other words, since the aspect ratio of anarea determined as a face is not limitable, the face recognizing unit111 specifies a face area such that the aspect ratio of an imageincluding a face and the periphery thereof is horizontal:vertical=a/2:b.

When the face area is input from the face recognizing unit 111, thedetermination unit 106 outputs a determination result indicating that adisplay can be performed in a face enlarged display mode in which a facearea, which is a partial area of the video, is divisionally displayed inan enlarged scale to the control unit 30. In this determination result,information of the face area is included. The control unit 30 outputs acontrol signal used for performing a display in the face enlargeddisplay mode to the video processing unit 20 according to the examplesillustrated in FIGS. 5 to 9. Also in this control signal, theinformation of a face area is included. Here, the face enlarged displaymode is one kind of a division display mode according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 17( a) is a diagram that illustrates an input video including aperson's face, and FIG. 17( b) is a diagram that illustrates a screen onwhich the input video illustrated in FIG. 17( a) is displayed in theface enlarged display mode. The video processing unit 20 has theconfiguration illustrated in FIG. 1. In any one of the first and secondmemories 201 and 202, the input video illustrated in FIG. 17( a) isstored.

The video processing control unit 206 controls the first memory readingcontrol unit 204 so as to read the whole input video from the firstmemory 201 and controls the second memory reading control unit 205 so asto read only a face area from the second memory 202. Thecompression/expansion control unit 207 compresses and/or expands theinput video read by the first memory reading control unit 204 to be fitinto the left half of the display, as illustrated in FIG. 17( b), andcompresses and/or expands the face area read by the second memoryreading control unit 205 to be fit into the right half of the display,as illustrated in FIG. 17( b). The image composing unit 208 composesboth videos compressed and/or expanded by the compression/expansioncontrol unit 207 and outputs a resultant video as an output video.

As above, according to the video processing device 500 of the fifthembodiment, a face area is detected from an input video, and the facearea is enlarged and can be displayed together with the whole inputvideo, whereby an easily viewable video can be displayed by utilizing abroader area in the display.

First Modified Example of Fifth Embodiment

FIG. 18 is a diagram that illustrates a first modified example of thefifth embodiment. In the above-described fifth embodiment, while theface recognizing unit 111 detects a face area from an input video byperforming the image recognizing process, in this modified example, thedisplay is configured as a touch panel, and a user can indicate arectangular area desired to be divided and displayed in an enlargedscale by surrounding the rectangular area with a finger as illustratedin FIG. 18( a). In a screen of the face enlarged display mode, asillustrated in FIG. 18( b), the entire area of the input video isdisplayed on the left side, and the rectangular area designated by theuser is displayed on the right side.

This modified example can be realized by employing the sameconfiguration as that of the second embodiment. In addition, therectangular area designated by the user may be directly compressedand/or expanded to be of a size that is a half of the display. In such acase, when the aspect ratio of the area designated by the user does notmatch the aspect ratio of the right half of the display,compression/expansion may be performed with the aspect ratio of the areadesignated by the user being maintained, and the display may beperformed with black belts attached to the left and right sides or theupper and lower sides. In addition, based on the rectangular areadesignated by the user, a rectangular area may be formed which includesthe rectangular area designated by the user and displays a minimumrectangular area of which the aspect ratio is a half(horizontal:vertical=half of width of display:height of display) of thedisplay in an enlarged scale. In any one of the above-described cases,the aspect ratio of the video portion on the right side that isdisplayed in an enlarged scale does not change from the aspect ratio ofthe input video even by the compression and/or expansion process, andaccordingly, formation of a video that is vertically or horizontallybroken can be avoided.

In addition, in the above-described fifth embodiment, a face area isautomatically detected for each frame, and accordingly, the position andthe size of the face area change for each frame. In contrast to this, inthis modified example, since a rectangular area to be enlarged isdesignated by the user, in a case where this rectangular area is fixed,although a person's face is in the rectangular area at the time of thedesignation, there cases where the face is not projected in therectangular area or exceeds the rectangular area in accordance with achange in the video. Accordingly, this modified example is appropriatelyused for viewing a still image. However, since the rectangular areadesignated by the user is not limited to a person's face area, there arecases where it is effective to divisionally display the video afterfixing the rectangular area in accordance with the specific content ofthe video, and accordingly, this modified example is not necessarilylimited to the purpose of viewing a still image.

Second Modified Example of Fifth Embodiment

FIG. 19 is a diagram that illustrates a second modified example of thefifth embodiment. This modified example may be applied to theabove-described fifth embodiment and the first modified example thereof.This modified example, as illustrated in FIG. 19( a), is effective in acase where there is a plurality of faces (in the example illustrated inFIG. 19( a), a man's face and a woman's face) in the input video. Thismodified example relates to a display method in a case where a pluralityof faces is detected or designated in the input video.

In a case where there is a plurality of areas to be enlarged, asillustrated in FIGS. 19( b) and 19(c), the whole input video isdisplayed on the left side, and a plurality of areas to be enlarged issequentially displayed on the right side in a switched manner.Accordingly, the video processing control unit 206 of the videoprocessing unit 20 controls the first memory reading control unit 204 soas to read the whole input video from the first memory 201 and controlsthe second memory reading control unit 205 so as to change an area to beread from the second memory 202 for every predetermined number of frames(for example, 180 frames). As a result, switching between a videodisplaying a man's face in an enlarged scale as in FIG. 18( b) and avideo displaying a woman's face in an enlarged scale as in FIG. 18( c)is performed for every 180 frames.

In addition, when switching between videos displayed in an enlargedscale as described above is regularly performed, on the side on whichthe whole input video is displayed, a portion of the whole video atwhich the video displayed in an enlarged scale is located may berepresented by attaching a marker by surrounding an area correspondingto the video displayed in an enlarged scale or the like. Furthermore,markers may be attached to all the areas detected or designated as areasthat are displayed in an enlarged scale, and a marker of the areacorresponding to the video that is actually displayed in the enlargedscale may be displayed to be discriminated from the other markers (forexample, the markers are represented in mutually-different colors or thelike).

Furthermore, in the description presented above, in a case where aplurality of face areas is detected or designated, although theplurality of areas is sequentially displayed with being automaticallyswitched from each other (slide show), the switching between the areasto be displayed in an enlarged scale may be performed in accordance witha user's operation. Even in such a case, a marker may be attached bysurrounding an area corresponding to a video displayed in an enlargedscale or the like, or a marker of an area corresponding to a video thatis actually displayed in an enlarged scale may be displayed to bediscriminated from the other markers (for example, the markers arerepresented in mutually-different colors or the like) by attachingmarkers to all the areas detected or designated as areas to be displayedin an enlarged scale. Particularly, in the latter case, the user canselect a face area to be displayed in an enlarged scale while checkingthe whole input video in which markers are attached to a plurality offace areas.

According to this modified example, even in a case where there is aplurality of areas of the input video to be displayed in an enlargedscale, a plurality of enlarged areas can be displayed.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, while the videoprocessing unit 20 includes two memories, which are the first and secondmemories and displays a video that are horizontally divided into two inthe vertical division display mode, the present invention is not limitedthereto. For example, the video processing unit 20 may include threememories and display videos that are horizontally divided into three inthe vertical division display mode.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, in the output video,while the boundary between the video disposed on the left side and thevideo disposed on the right side is located at the center of the outputvideo in the row direction, the boundary between the video disposed onthe left side and the video disposed on the right side may bearbitrarily set. For example, in the above-described fifth embodiment,the output video may be generated such that the input video having anaspect ratio of 16:9 is displayed on the left side in the output videowith the aspect ratio being maintained, and the video of a face area isdisplayed in the remaining area on the right side.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, although the size of theoutput video matches the size of the display, and, in order to displaythe output video on the display, the output video is displayed using theentire area of the display, a black belt may be generated in a part ofthe display when the output video is displayed.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention, which areconsidered at the current time point, have been described, theseembodiments may be variously changed, and all such changes within thetrue spirit and the scope of the present invention are intended to beincluded in the attached claims.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As above, the present invention has an advantage of being capable ofdisplaying an easily viewable video by utilizing a broader area in ahorizontally long display and is useful as a video processing devicethat processes an input video.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   -   100, 200, 300, 400, 500 video processing device division        determining unit    -   101 first line memory    -   102 second line memory    -   103 third line memory    -   104 line memory writing control unit    -   105 line memory reading control unit    -   106 determination unit    -   107 touch panel    -   108 touch area detecting unit    -   109 controller position detecting unit    -   110 seating sensor    -   111 face recognizing unit    -   20 video processing unit    -   201 first memory    -   202 second memory    -   203 memory writing control unit    -   204 first memory reading control unit    -   205 second memory reading control unit    -   206 video processing control unit    -   207 compression/expansion control unit    -   208 image composing unit    -   30 control unit

1. A video processing device comprising a video processing unit thatprocesses an input video, wherein the video processing unit comprises: afirst memory that stores the input video; a second memory that storesthe input video; a compression/expansion control unit that compressesand/or expands a first area of the input video stored in the firstmemory and compresses and/or expands a second area of the input videostored in the second memory; and an image composing unit that generatesan output video in which a video of the first area compressed and/orexpanded by the compression/expansion control unit and a video of thesecond area compressed and/or expanded by the compression/expansioncontrol unit are horizontally aligned.
 2. The video processing deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the first area is an upper area of theinput video, and the second area is a lower area of the input video. 3.The video processing device according to claim 1, wherein the first areais the entire area of the input video, and the second area is arectangular area of the input video that is smaller than the entirearea.
 4. The video processing device according to claim 1, furthercomprising a division control unit that determines whether or not adisplay can be made in a division display mode in which the output videogenerated by the image composing unit is displayed and controls thevideo processing unit.
 5. The video processing device according to claim4, wherein the division control unit determines whether the input videois a vertically divided video and, in a case where the input video isthe vertically divided video, controls the video processing unit so asto generate an output video for performing a display in the divisiondisplay mode with an upper area set as the first area and a lower areaset as the second area.
 6. The video processing device according toclaim 4, wherein the division control unit determines whether the inputvideo is a vertically divided video and, in a case where the input videois the vertically divided video, adds a division display mode in whichthe output video generated by the image composing unit is displayed as adisplay mode and controls the video processing unit so as to generate anoutput video for performing a display in the division display mode withan upper area set as the first area and a lower area set as the secondarea when the division display mode is selected by a user.
 7. The videoprocessing device according to claim 4, wherein the division controlunit controls the video processing unit so as to generate an outputvideo for performing a display in the division display mode with an areadisposed on an upper side of a division position set as the first areaand an area disposed on a lower side of the division position set as thesecond area in accordance with a user's instruction includingdesignation of the division position used for vertically dividing theinput video.
 8. The video processing device according to claim 4,wherein the division control unit detects a face area from the inputvideo and controls the video processing unit so as to generate an outputvideo for performing a display in the division display mode with theentire area of the input video set as the first area and the face areaset as the second area when the face area is detected from the inputvideo.
 9. The video processing device according to claim 4, wherein thedivision control unit detects a face area from the input video, when theface area is detected from the input video, adds a division display modein which the output video generated by the image composing unit isdisplayed as a display mode, and controls the video processing unit soas to generate an output video for performing a display in the divisiondisplay mode with the entire area of the input video set as the firstarea and the face area set as the second area when the division displaymode is selected by a user.
 10. The video processing device according toclaim 4, wherein the division control unit controls the video processingunit so as to generate an output video for performing a display in thedivision display mode with the entire area of the input video set as thefirst area and a partial area set as the second area in accordance witha user's instruction including designation of the partial area of theinput video.
 11. A video display system comprising: the video processingdevice according to claim 1; and a display that displays the outputvideo.
 12. A video display system comprising: the video processingdevice according to claim 2; and a display that displays the outputvideo.
 13. A video display system comprising: the video processingdevice according to claim 3; and a display that displays the outputvideo.
 14. A video display system comprising: the video processingdevice according to claim 4; and a display that displays the outputvideo.
 15. A video display system comprising: the video processingdevice according to claim 5; and a display that displays the outputvideo.
 16. A video display system comprising: the video processingdevice according to claim 6; and a display that displays the outputvideo.
 17. A video display system comprising: the video processingdevice according to claim 7; and a display that displays the outputvideo.
 18. A video display system comprising: the video processingdevice according to claim 8; and a display that displays the outputvideo.
 19. A video display system comprising: the video processingdevice according to claim 9; and a display that displays the outputvideo.
 20. A video display system comprising: the video processingdevice according to claim 10; and a display that displays the outputvideo.